<p>It’s down to four.</p> <p>Preliminary final weekend is here. It’s the best week of the year for footy fans.</p> <p>For so long, the Preliminary Final has been labeled the hardest game to win. But the introduction of the pre-finals bye and the extraordinary evenness of the competition has made preliminary finals a bigger uncertainty than ever before.</p> <p>Sydney Swans and Port Adelaide fans, the ticket to the MCG is just four quarters away.</p> <p>Catch Sportsbet’s in-depth Sydney Swans vs Port Adelaide prediction and preview for their big clash at the SCG below.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>Sydney Swans vs Port Adelaide Preview</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>The recent head-to-head reading between these two sides makes for a fascinating analysis.</p> <p>The two sides met only five weeks ago with the Power romping to a 112-point win at the Adelaide Oval.</p> <p>Port Adelaide has won their past eight games against the Swans, not losing to them since 2016.</p> <p>This will be just the third time since then that the two sides have met at the SCG, but Port has happy memories of the ground in recent times. Alir Allir’s famous spoil to deny Ollie Florent’s shot after the siren in early 2023 remains a key day in the Power narrative of recent years.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>Players to Watch</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>Isaac Heeney</h3> <p>The hanger was just the start.</p> <p>Heeney’s second half against the Giants cemented two things. The first is another Preliminary final berth for the Swans. The second is the shocking reminder that the best player in the competition this year is ineligible for the Brownlow Medal.</p> <p>But enough of that, let’s talk about the man who gave us a final performance for the ages. There aren’t enough superlatives to describe just what Heeney did against his crosstown rivals. As such, he’d be the first name circled on Ken Hinkley and Port Adelaide’s whiteboard this week.</p> <p>The matchup will be intriguing. Willem Drew is likely to take him when he spends time in the middle, but will he go with him when he drifts forward? Will he hand over to Jones or will he have his hands full with Papley? They could even get a taller defender to mind him because Heeney is so dynamic.</p> <p>The Swans have plenty of match winners all over the park. But, as he proved most recently, Heeney only needs a single moment to inject himself and swing momentum back in his side's favour.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>Zak Butters</h3> <p>There were rumours all day on gameday that he was going to be a late scratching for the Semi against the Hawks. Yet, when the ball was bounced, Butters was there, and he toughed it out.</p> <p>He was down on his usual output, but still recorded 17 disposals and laid eight tackles, and stepped up big in the last quarter.</p> <p>He will probably be the one that James Rowbottom goes to tag and attempt to limit. No doubt, there will be a target on him for a bit of niggle given he will still be hampered.</p> <p>If Port are to continue their run, they will need their match winners to all be on. Starting with Butters at the coalface.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h3>Lachie Jones</h3> <p>The young defender is set for a massive role on one of Sydney’s small forwards.</p> <p>With Chad Warner and Isaac Heeney likely to spend most of their time on-ball, it leaves Tom Papley as the likely matchup for Jones.</p> <p>Papley shot to life in the second half, producing an impactful performance on return in the first final in the Swans' comeback. As such, his influence will need to be watched and curtailed by the Power if they are any hope to progress to the big dance next week.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h2>Sydney Swans vs Port Adelaide Prediction</h2> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Despite the recent history in their favor, including that quite astonishing margin from just five weeks ago, Port Adelaide are big outsiders in this game.</p> <p>The Swans are a much different prospect now to what they were back then and the Port, while they got over the line against the Hawks, are also a different team having felt the injury bug late.</p> <p>The Power’s biggest strength is its midfield, and we expect them to match the Swans with its inside game right from the get-go. It’s how they went five weeks ago in the most recent mauling.</p> <p>If Sydney can keep the ball in transition when they win the ball from stoppage, it will go a long way to winning this match. If the match is contested, The Swans will likely have a few issues, but if the ball is played through the arcs and can run through the corridor it will be the Swans to lose.</p> <p>The Swans will be without their skipper Callum Mills after he injured a hamstring at training. Who comes in will be interesting, but it won’t be as big a loss as first thought as it allows the Swans to get the midfield balance back to what it was pre-form dip when they were smashing everyone.</p> <p>Todd Marshall will miss the game for the Power through concussion, which means veteran Charlie Dixon will get a reprieve to be the guy up forward. But how will he be physically after being a late out last week?</p> <p>Expect to see Will Hayward or Logan McDonald go to Aliir and nullify his influence. Port Adelaide doesn't have a large range of intercepting defenders, so the Swans may not be afraid to kick the ball long and bring it down to their smalls.&nbsp; Expect Campbell, McInerney, Papley, Blakey, Florent, and Warner to have a big role this week, as the chaos will be required to outgun the Power.<br /> <br /> If Port don’t do the bleeding obvious and tag Heeney, another tag option is to put a hard tag on Nick Blakey and even potentially Florent and look to nullify their ball movement from defence and take the Swans' first line of attack.</p> <p><strong>Prediction:</strong> Sydney Swans by 27 points.</p> <p><strong>Betting tip: </strong>SGM - Will Hayward, Tom Papley anytime goal + Luke Parker 20 + possessions.</p>